For some time, the 1975 have been teasing some momentous event to take place on 1 June. Now, in a cartoon strip posted to Instagram and Twitter on Sunday afternoon by singer Matty Healy, it is suggested the band – whose debut album was a No 1 hit – might be disappearing for some unspecified period from that date.
“Our projected identity must change not only visually but philosophically – how do you do that?” the comic-strip-cum-statement-cum-manifesto read. “Firstly we must reclaim our identity & repossess our control of it … Until then there won’t be any pop music or dancing with long hair … The hardest part of any relationship is to say goodbye … So we must leave, with a parting ‘we love you.’”
It seems unlikely that the band have split – their manager had previously tweeted that he had heard demos for their second album – but it does appear some dramaticchange is on the horizon for the group.
Fans took to social media to speculate. Some evidently felt the band were breaking up, while others suggested there would be a change to the band’s monochrome aesthetic. A reference to the colour pink made many suspect the band are going to swap their black clothes to pink. The main response, though, was puzzlement.
The Guardian contacted Healy, who offered only a terse: “No comment.”
— Jamie Oborne (@jamieoborne) May 31, 2015
